Funding for the development of EOL computable data functionality provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and from EOL users around the world. Contact the EOL Secretariat for more information on TraitBank.

A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality or integrity of data; may also include activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of data or to review interim data and efficacy outcomes to determine if research should be continued as designed, changed, or terminated; may also include reviews to investigate misconduct in research; levels of excellence which characterize the data based on accepted standards of quality.

A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

The date-time or interval during which an Event occurred. For occurrences, this is the date-time when the event was recorded. Not suitable for a time in a geological context. Recommended best practice is to use an encoding scheme, such as ISO 8601:2004(E).

A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. A taxon is presumed Extinct when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycle and life form.

A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population (or populations) well outside the past range. A taxon is presumed Extinct in the Wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycle and life form.

The one specimen or other element used or designated by the original author at the time of publication of the original description as the nomenclatural type of a species or infraspecific taxon. A holotype may be 'explicit' if it is clearly stated in the originating publication or 'implicit' if it is the single specimen proved to have been in the hands of the originating author when the description was published. [Zoo./Bot./Bio.]

The specific description of the place. Less specific geographic information can be provided in other geographic terms (higherGeography, continent, country, stateProvince, county, municipality, waterBody, island, islandGroup). This term may contain information modified from the original to correct perceived errors or standardize the description.

The full scientific name, with authorship and date information if known. When forming part of an Identification, this should be the name in lowest level taxonomic rank that can be determined. This term should not contain identification qualifications, which should instead be supplied in the IdentificationQualifier term.

Any material within 2 m from the Earth's surface that is in contact with the atmosphere, with the exclusion of living organisms, areas with continuous ice not covered by other material, and water bodies deeper than 2 m.

The institution that holds a type specimen for a given species. The recommended best practice is to use the identifier in a collections registry such as the Biodiversity Collections Index (http://www.biodiversitycollectionsindex.org/).

A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable, and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

Confidence in the longevity data (data quality) is classified as: 'low' (only used for species without an established maximum longevity in AnAge), 'questionable', 'acceptable' and 'high'. This qualifier is based on the reliability of the original reference from which maximum longevity was obtained, sample size, whether a given species has been studied and reproduces in captivity, and whether there are any conflicting reports.